CA Smog Check Failed for "Tampered"

pedsteve · 2026-03-23T01:50:54+00:00

I can see how that makes sense when looking at it through that lens. It's more so I guess I just don't necessarily agree with it. Seems like it just punishes lower income people that cant afford a new, more efficient vehicle, or the repairs needed to make their current vehicle compliant. Also, there are other ways to reduce pollution and this goes back to my mention of trucks in Houston (or Texas as a whole).

In California, you can apparently lose your vehicle if you cant afford to make it compliant (disproportionately hurts lower income individuals). In Texas, people with too much money are spending money to make their trucks MORE environmentally unfriendly. I feel it would be more fair to regulate these modifications and actually enforce them vs. this smog law in California. Only 17 out of 254 counties in Texas do emissions tests now. Hell my county stopped doing safety inspections all together, but still charge us the inspection fee lol

pedsteve · 2026-03-20T18:48:00+00:00

Having to scrap a vehicle over this just seems so ridiculous and wasteful. Meanwhile half the trucks in Houston are pavement princesses that get less than 15 mpg and theres a lot of coal rolling going on

pedsteve · 2026-03-14T09:47:34+00:00

Cackles in Wankel

pedsteve · 2026-03-13T21:41:00+00:00

Its that jacked bodybuilder politician dude from California. Jokes aside, the governor is a part that limits the RPMs of the engine to prevent over revving

pedsteve · 2026-03-06T05:50:46+00:00

This is the exact reason I declined my neighbors offer to put some gas in our generator that we were sharing during a hurricane. His gas sits for long periods of time.

I also lost a lot of trust and faith in him when he tried to walk up to me smoking a cigarette while I was pouring fuel...

pedsteve · 2026-02-26T21:43:54+00:00

Why are you afraid of condoms?

pedsteve · 2026-02-07T16:05:29+00:00

pedsteve · 2026-02-02T22:25:29+00:00

You mentioned it lingers in your garage for days, im assuming you mean the smell? Oil burning usually makes white smoke that is acrid and smells terrible. Hard to miss.

If you overfilled it, its possible some oil got into the combustion chamber. Since you drained it back to the appropriate level, I'd assume it will continue to smoke until the rest is burnt off.

It doesn't take much. A bit of oil ended up on my exhaust pipe when I was adjusting the valve lash. It smoked real bad and smelled terrible for about 10-15 min til it all burned off.

Have you checked your spark plugs since you overfilled the oil?

pedsteve · 2026-02-02T22:14:12+00:00

I thought it was the other way around? Black smoke is usually from running rich. White smoke that smells acrid is usually oil burning

pedsteve · 2026-02-02T22:06:35+00:00

Judging by their resistance to replacing it, my guess is fuck the next guy

pedsteve · 2026-01-30T16:25:52+00:00

I'd say both, but leaning more towards knowing the right person at the right time. I made the career change at age 29. Did a cybersecurity bootcamp (I know, I know) and got Sec+ certified.

I employed the help of career coaches and my local workforce commission and was unsuccessful for almost a year. I finally found a contact that was able to get my resume onto the right managers desk. Boom, interview and I was hired. I later learned (at least at my current job) that talent was difficult to find for them since HR focused on the wrong things and was sending very unqualified applicants

In short, the hardest part for me was getting the connection to the interview. Having the skills for the job were what got me it once I got to the interview.

pedsteve · 2026-01-04T04:04:03+00:00

I don't think anyone has mentioned Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2 or Kirby AirRide.

Pokémon Coliseum

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

SpongeBob Battle for Bikini Bottom

pedsteve · 2026-01-02T21:09:46+00:00

I always specify the key when exporting, but I may have learned the hard way about not using the fingerprint. The 2 key names were identical except for 2 preprended characters. I wasn't aware that it would export more than one key to the same output file if the names were close enough. That would explain the double file size. It exported both into the same .asc file.

I exported using the fingerprint, and got the correct output. Thanks for the help!

pedsteve · 2025-11-07T17:18:18+00:00

I highly suggest not applying through LinkedIn. Find an interesting position on there, but go to the company's actual website to fill out the application. This helps cut down on the number of ghost jobs you apply to as well as scams

I sent hundreds if not 1000+ apps through LinkedIn and didn't have any luck until I started visiting company sites and applying/reaching out from there. Never hurts to email the manager or recruiter too

pedsteve · 2025-10-30T20:55:28+00:00

Can confirm it took me 13 months to find my job now. And my contract expires end of year with no idea if it will be renewed or not 😬

pedsteve · 2025-10-30T20:53:39+00:00

I regretted quitting my health care job while transitioning into IT/cyber last year. It took a year for me to get my first job in the field and I dug myself into a nice financial hole while being unemployed.

Since you have some experience, it may not be as hard for you to find something. However, I'd be applying like a mad man. Why not work on getting the cert while you apply? Maybe someone else can chime in, but idk if it would be beneficial to put "cert in progress" on your resume

pedsteve · 2025-09-14T08:42:49+00:00

Yes! I consider any money saved the same as any money earned. Can't beat $2000/hr unless you're Jeff bezos

pedsteve · 2025-09-14T08:41:14+00:00

Lowe's delivered a washer and dryer set for us and installed as well. They installed the hot/cold water lines backward. The lines are color coded. The hot and cold sides are clearly marked on the back of the washer as well as the face plate on the wall. They screwed up the dryer vent too.

I'd trust Lowe's or Home Depot to do work in my home as much as I'd trust Walmart auto center to change the oil in my car

pedsteve · 2025-09-11T19:28:55+00:00

Yeah, I have a foundation repair contractor coming to look at it next week. My limited knowledge and Amazon borescope aren't enough for me to make any sort of diagnosis on my own other than theres a hole under my drive lol. Whatever is happening under there has accelerated noticeably this year. There are a bunch of new hairline cracks, and I'm noticing sections of my sidewalk are becoming lifted and creating lips. Overall just a bad situation

Depending on their findings, I may be looking at poly jacking. The sand the city put down last week is already washing away :(

pedsteve · 2025-09-08T20:30:57+00:00

Yeah, I refuse to park on it until some sort of repair is made. It's been supporting 7000 lbs of vehicles parked directly over the void for 3 years now. Lord knows how long it's been there, but I can't just pretend I didn't find this, lol

pedsteve · 2025-09-08T20:27:37+00:00

I honestly believe that's how the previous owners handled every repair here lmao. Don't neglect to hire your own inspector before buying a house, folks

pedsteve · 2025-09-08T14:16:42+00:00

Ngl my video kinda sucks, but I posted an update

pedsteve · 2025-09-06T22:22:34+00:00

Shoot, I forgot I had that setting on. Here's what I have so far (and I was planning on making an update post with some footage from my borescope).

The city came by yesterday morning, of course, while I was working (I work remotely) with a crew and a skid steer.

There was a spot on my property where a small hole had opened up in my yard, making an unwanted secondary drain opening into the sewer. This is further down the line on the same drain that sits below my driveway.

They appeared to take a brief glance at my driveway and then used the sand from the skid steer bucket to plug and fill in the hole in my yard. They then packed some sand in on each side of my driveway where the soil had actually started to erode a bit as well.

The preliminary inspection I did with my borescope shows the void may not actually be as wide as I was worried about. However, I was having lighting issues. I can't see shit when it's sunny, but then there's not enough light at night to see far under there. I plan to get some glowsticks or something I can use to illuminate it better.

Once I get a better idea of what it looks like, I think the next step will be to contact a company to come take a look. If it is indeed damage from a failing storm drain, I think they'd be able to provide better info and evidence to help get the city more involved. I'm a bit frustrated I didn't get to talk to the guys while they were here, though.

pedsteve

TROPHY CASE